


Cantera: A Foundation Story-Part 14 The Conclusion

by Zurrunba



Series: Cantera [14]
Category: Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:42:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28713735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zurrunba/pseuds/Zurrunba
Summary: The Galactic Empire has fallen, with kings, tyrants, and other rulers scrambling to seize power in systems across the galaxy. One such ruler was the King of Cantera, who sought a way to remove Fillia's power over his planet. But then things can change.The war between the Fillian Empire and its neighbor Yllul have taken a turn for the better. The invading Yllulians have been defeated in two great battles at Duran and Fillia itself. Now the victorious leaders plan to meet in the palace of Fillia to discuss what to do next. Meanwhile, another spy situation is uncovered, this time it's a problem more closer to home; involving the person the king had placed more trust in than anyone else.
Series: Cantera [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1605262
Kudos: 1





	Cantera: A Foundation Story-Part 14 The Conclusion

It seemed to take forever for Hiero to find his wife. It had all sounded so simple. He’d been given coordinates of the specific part of the huge palace structure she and the other factions’ members would be found. The problem was that a lot of the structure had been hit with endless amounts of weapons fire, causing large chunks of the structure to fall in, despite the strong material it was made out of. His guards following him had to help move a lot of this debris before finally reaching the room he and Moira were to meet.

Two guards dressed in Fillian military garb stood outside the doorway in question, but moved out of the way when they confirmed his identity. One might think that she was under some kind of house arrest, if not for the good spirits she emulated as he walked through the door.

“Hello, Darling, you have no idea how good it is to see you,” she said as she wobbled over to where he was to give him a big hug.

Her pregnancy was really starting to show. Despite that she got around well enough. Grabbing his hand, she led him over to a large wrap around couch in the center of the room. When they sat down, she gave a signal to the guards to wait outside. After the king’s confirming nod, they left the two alone. 

“You’ve been busy,” he finally said after an awkward moment. How should he deal with this? She’d defied him several times over the past month. The risk she took coming to Fillia by herself was bad enough, but her being pregnant with his heir made it even worse. 

Catching the underlying meaning, she responded, “My actions here I felt were the only way that we could solve the problem on Fillia and get help to where it was needed. Firon was the only one who could convince any of the fleets to move as swiftly as they did.”

He couldn’t argue with that. If General Greelin couldn’t have convinced the different fleets to move quickly enough. He wasn’t very well liked by the other major commanders. The same with Mesh and Vino. Those two were more likeable and could build up better trust, but again it would’ve taken longer than they’d want unless Fillia itself was under direct attack. The defenders and defenses around Duran wouldn’t have stood a chance.

“What are your intentions now, my Dear?” he asked. “You seem to have taken over everything, including my role in the process here.”

Waving her hand, she said, “I wouldn’t worry there. They know that you have the final word and I’m just the emissary that showed up to drive the bargain, so to speak.”

Spoken like a true merchant. “Since you’ve set this all up, I’d appreciate and appraisal of everything you’ve done here and what kinds of promises you’ve made to these parties. I don’t want to walk in there blind with them thinking one thing and me presenting something different. These things need to be planned.”

Moira explained how the Foundation representative on Cantera had been coaxed into taking her to Fillia through several different detours. How she’d bribed her way into the palace with the assistance of some of her trading contacts and convinced the leaders of first the republican faction, then that of Firon to set aside differences that could be worked out later. There was no way she could think of to get Greelin to agree to anything. Then she explained what happened in council room when she and the faction leaders had gotten together to interrogate the general; and how General Vino had shot the other rebel leader while the others had been trying to negotiate something with him in exchange for information. All of it sounded plausible, and if he asked the members of the other parties involved, they’d all likely confirm it. There was still the feeling that she was leaving things out. Was there a way for him to find out before the meeting took place? Probably not. He could only go with what information he had. 

“You took a huge risk doing this, darling,” he said. “With things winding down can I count on you not taking unnecessary risks in the future; at least not until after the baby is born?”

The smile on her face broadened. It was one of her expressions meant to disarm him, but he’d learned over time that it could indicate just about anything, including her trying hard to deflect the subject.

Shaking his head, he pushed that aside. The words of Vino were worming their way through his head without him realizing it. The general had many reasons to dislike the queen. That had been made clear. But no matter what the case may be, he intended to make sure she was in a place under closer surveillance (if not under guard) once these talks ended and plans were made for either returning home or moving forces around to take the fight to the enemy. Yllul should be made to suffer for what they did. 

When negotiations started, there were twenty in all in the room. The five major players (Hiero, Moira, General Firon, Saldor Mesh, and General Vino) along with their personal guards. There wasn’t a lot of trust to be found in the members of this group, but somehow something had to be worked out. At this particular meeting the first order of business was the war itself to discuss.

Being the apparent heir to the late tyrant’s rule, the parties grudgingly agreed that Firon would start the meeting. 

“As we all saw, we clearly weren’t prepared for the actions taken by our neighbors. It required every fleet we possessed to engage and deal with them. Of those five, we now have three left. Of the three fleets, the Canterans clearly have the most ships still in operation in the battle zones.”

All eyes turned to the king. He fought to keep a calm and thoughtful demeanor. The implication here was obvious. Since the suppression of the rebellion thirty years before, the Canterans weren’t supposed to have more than twenty-five ships in its fleet. If Tyrant Ysh were still alive the king would’ve been arrested on sight and possibly executed for his clear sign of insurrection to come. Such an example would be deemed essential; even if it should spark another all-out civil war. Firon was a different kind of character.

“The Tyre Fleet is the next strongest,” Firon continued as he moved his eyes around to the other participants in the room. “That being the case, either one of these fleets, or both, should be used if we are to take the fight to our enemy. The Sargon I will recommend to stay here to watch the home system. Other freelance ships will be called on to watch the borders and systems until the fighting should end. Do we have any objections to this plan?”

“It sounds as though you already expect to have the two fleets engaged in Yllul space,” Hiero said. With this set up, most of his fleet would find itself heading far away from Cantera with only a few ships to guard the planet. Would they try something against his planet should his fleet be depleted?

“Will that be a problem?” Firon asked. 

All eyes were focused on Hiero and Moira. He had to think fast. All hope of a free Cantera would be dashed if he allowed his ships to be whittled down in a cross-border venture. He’d have to convince them to allow him to keep half his ships in his section of the empire. Would they see such a request as evidence of his intention to revolt? At least it looked like none of them were aware of his actions on the planet Rhyon. If they did, there’d be zero doubt.

“Keep in mind, general,” Moira began, addressing Firon, “that Cantera is the planet best situated to guard against problems on our end of the empire. The unexpected attack on Duran is evidence that nothing can be taken for granted as far as Yllul is concerned. There needs to be a force in both the Fillian and Canteran systems to have the best defense we can arrange.”

“Are you suggesting that Cantera shouldn’t be joining the fight in enemy space?” the general followed up.

“Of course not. I believe half of our fleet should work nicely with the Tyre Fleet to go against the enemy; unless, of course, your ultimate objective is the conquest of all of Yllul.”

Hiero was inwardly thankful that Moira spoke up. His original idea to do the talking might’ve caused some rifts he wasn’t ready to deal with just then. And Moira had been the one who’d gotten things to this point.

Almost everyone had focused their eyes on Moira, but the eyes of Vino moved and locked to his for a few seconds. Their questioning nature was clear. Was this his idea or was Moira the one making the decisions? Looking away he listened to what the rest of the groups were saying. Skillfully, the queen was discussing the positive and negative aspects of each of the plans that came up, carefully steering things in the direction Hiero wanted them to go. That was a good sign. Vino would just never trust Moira.

Finally, the meeting adjourned. The king and queen made their few pleasantries that were required for protocol before returning to their room. The next thing to decide was when and where they’d plan their first strike. That meeting would take place that night. A sudden idea came to him. Explaining to Moira that he had a few people he needed to speak with here, and then he’d contact people on Cantera he left her to rest. 

At the last minute he called three of his guards to follow him through the halls. Nothing could be taken for granted at a time like this. Where he was headed should bring him in contact with some of the lower ranking officers of the Fillian armies who might be willing to tell them a few things about the civil war on the planet. All kinds of bitterness had to be steaming below the surface, with plenty happy to divulge what they knew.

The first couple people he spoken with described the activities they’d been involved in. Apparently, the fighting had taken place all over the palace, like some kind of layered maze structure of battlefield. Such a thing he’d never heard of on such a scale. With everything that had happened those of the different factions were looked on with suspicion by those who’d been on the other side. One of them even mentioned how he’d been forced to cut down many people who’d been acquaintances of his before the strife broke out. An attempted coup had turned into a bloodbath. 

Filing this information away for later he headed for the main communication center. It would take several minutes to get there. On the way he was putting together in his mind what he’d say to Grij, Tical, and Oris. His mind had been off in deep thought when he found himself thrust to the ground. The next thing he knew blaster fire was passing back and forth through the hallway.

One of his guards dragged him around a corner before turning back to engage the enemy. These fighters were dressed in non-district military type garb without any logos. Whoever they were they didn’t want to be identified. Their numbers couldn’t be determined, but the king could tell at least two had fallen to the ground. Then one of his guard was struck, falling to the ground as well; dead. The other two backed up around the corner, grabbing ahold of the king and pushed him down the corridor as fast as possible. Hiero didn’t need any more encouragement after that. Would there ever be a time when he didn’t have people trying to kill him?  
______________________________

“I can’t get through to him,” Counselor Grij said. “Something’s happened in the palace and nothing is being allowed through.”

“Nothing?” Counselor Tical asked, skepticism clear in his tone.

Grij looked over at his counterpart. It wasn’t easy holding the fort down here with the king gone. He really hadn’t indicated who was in charge here while he was away. Apparently, he felt that his three main counselors could handle everything. This constant questioning of everything Grij said by the agriculture minister was getting on his nerves. And it didn’t help that Oris would be out of commission for a while.

Sighing, Grij responded, “They’re not letting anyone through from outside of the system. That at least I can tell. We can just hope that the king himself contacts us.”

“In the meantime, we just sit around, staring at screens?”

“That’s what we have underlings for. As for what we will be doing, I’m thinking things over. If you have any brilliant ideas on how to resolve the new problem, I’m all ears.”

Tical didn’t immediately respond. His eyes continued to go over the screens for the security cameras. He always had several charts up and lists. The information given to them by Thelia made it clear that something drastic had to be done. All the ideas that one might consider should only be enacted by a direct order from Hiero himself.

“I take it arresting Paulo Tilliar isn’t on the top of your list of actions to take,” Tical finally said. 

“I don’t know if that is even possible, if that were the action we chose. The queen’s father has more connections than I or the king have. Then we have to wonder what Moira herself might know about this. So far everything is circumstantial.”

“In the trade business we call that compartmentalizing,” Tical responding, his eyes still on the screen. “I have trade contacts as well. I’m just not sure how they’d feel about sticking their necks out in defiance of the strongest merchant houses in the empire. I don’t suppose you have any contacts on the inside of the Tilliar groups.”

If only he did. The trouble was how tightly knit the Tilliar organization was at almost all levels.

“Nothing that I would consider trustworthy. Sometimes you can buy your way in. The trouble is no matter how much we offer such people, the Tilliars could outbid it.”

“No disgruntled members, or former members you know of?”

“Not from where I can integrate things,” said Grij. “I was going to ask you the same thing.”

Tical shook his head. There was no one. Too much going on at once. After going through more files, the two set up a group to keep trying to make contact at Fillia. Not knowing what else to do they decided to take another crack at Thelia. She claimed to have told them everything she could, but after what happened with Eileen and Tonya, they knew that there was a chance that she knew more than she realized.

As quickly as they could the counselors arranged for Thelia Oris to be taken into a secluded room, as far away from the turmoil as possible while within reasonable distance should an opening occur to let them speak with the king on Fillia. The woman was a nervous wreck. When she was brought in, they could tell that she hadn’t slept since the last time they’d spoken to her three days before. Her face was ashen and her hair far more messed up than she would’ve allowed until before this business had begun. 

Since he knew her the best, Grij started things off. “You don’t look good Thelia. I hope they haven’t mistreated you here.”

She didn’t respond. Her eyes were down, not really looking at anything. 

“Thelia, your husband is safe. I promise you he’ll recover. I need your help to make sure Paulo can’t do anything else.”

For a moment her eyes came up and glanced at Grij. She was far worse than Eileen had been when snatched up after being caught. Probably because Thelia had more of a conscience than Eileen ever did. That woman likely kept justifying everything she did; all the way up until her husband’s death at the hands of her co-conspirators. Thelia was different. She had to be. 

“You can’t protect me, or Alan. They’ll get to us in the end.”

She couldn’t possibly believe that. They had to have done something to her. Something unnoticed until her husband was attacked.

“Thelia, you have to know something. Something that Paulo and his group want to keep hidden. You clearly wanted to stop this, otherwise you wouldn’t have pointed us in the direction you did. You must know at least who some of the players are.”

Her right hand rose to brush the hair out of her eyes. She remained silent, but Grij was certain that she was thinking. 

“I can only think of the Relan players. They’re the ones information was being passed through.”

That was no surprise. The Relan merchant hotel had been where the messages had been taken that Thelia had passed on to the stranger seen in the cameras. She shook her head, putting the palm to her forehead. 

“There was someone else,” she continued. Her eyes closed, squeezed tightly. Clearly, she was having trouble concentrating. “He was wearing a royal guard uniform, but I don’t think he was one of the guards.”

That had a familiar ring to it. Twice the king had been attacked in his private residences when the guards had been infiltrated. Could there be another internal enemy they hadn’t uprooted?

Slowly she described the man. Her voice was a bit choppy at first, but gradually became more certain. Afterward, the two arranged for her to be taken back to her room with extra guards pointed outside. 

“Do you know who she might be referring to?” asked Tical.

“Possibly,” said Grij.

“That description can match quite a few people.”

“Yes, it can, but a couple things she said, like the scar on his shoulder, droopy eyes, and dark hair with a clear sign of having been dyed. There’s one or two people that come to mind; and when it comes to internal Canteran politics one does stand out.

“But I have to consider the best action to take,” continued Grij. “We need to set a trap for this person to be sure. I think Captain Tya might be a good choice here. Now if we could only get through to the king.”  
________________________________

When Hiero burst into his room there was nobody there. The five guards with him fanned out to search every little section, making sure that no place was missed. Moira was gone.

What did that mean? 

He stood there as they searched, trying to see if anything was different from when he’d been in there earlier. Seeing as he’d only spent a couple hours in this room before going off on his errands it was hard to be absolutely sure. A couple items of hers that had sat on one of the tables earlier were gone. The search found no sign of them. A perfume bottle remained, as did one of her make up bags. 

“Who was guarding this door?” he demanded.

“I was, your Grace,” said a royal guard, one that he’d known for some time, if not on a personal level. He’d stepped in behind those who’d followed the king inside.

“When did the queen leave?”

The man looked confused, shaking his head. “Your Grace, I didn’t see her leave. We’ve been standing by this door since you left; nobody came through this door.”

Glancing around, the others who’d been on guard confirmed the same thing. He knew that one or more of them could be lying. It wouldn’t be the first time that someone he thought he could trust had betrayed him. Somehow that didn’t feel right. Something else was going on. The question was, did she leave of her own free will or was she forced out? 

“Keep an eye on this room. Check it regularly to see if anyone has gone in and out of here. Leave my wife’s things where they are. I can’t imagine anyone coming for them, but just in case I want to find out if there’s more than one way in.”

After saying this, the king left five guards behind at the room, then took six others with him as he headed for the communications room. The nearest one was where General Firon currently held one of his offices. 

When he reached the office, the place was in chaos. So many people were running around, mostly ignoring him and those with him. One spotted him and asked him to take a seat and someone would be with him shortly. This was unexpected, as the king was one of the main dignitaries at the meeting. What could possibly distract them from the diplomatic duties they had to the guests?

The answer to that was surprising. The king hadn’t been the only one who’d been attacked. Attempts had also been made on Firon himself, as well as General Vino. Luckily, none of the notables had been killed, though several members of security details had. When the king was recognized by one of those running through the office, Hiero was quickly ushered into an office with two of his guards. The others were made to remain outside. 

“I’m glad to see you alive and well, your Highness, even if a little scratched up.” said General Firon from behind his desk. It was clear that the idea of a king ruling within the empire was distasteful to him. He likely didn’t appreciate the notion that the term tyrant was largely a similar designation.

“Scratches heal, general,” he replied. “Are Vino and Mesh alive and well, then?”

“Alive, yes. General Vino has a few severe wounds from blaster fire and falling down a flight of stairs, but she’ll live. I don’t suppose you might know who’s behind this?”

Did he know who was behind it? His immediate response would’ve been a certain ‘no’, but a suspicion crept into his mind once again. Vino’s words kept coming to him. Certainly, she had nothing to do with any of this. That and several little things she’d been up to in the fight against their common enemies came to mind. She’d been given free reign to handle many of their problems.

Shaking his head, he said, “Not off the top of my head. I don’t suppose you’ve seen my wife recently?”

“You don’t know where the queen is?” the tyrant asked, a hint of concern on his face. “Could she be another victim?”

“I hope not. But I’d like to contact my people on Cantera to see what’s been happening there, and to inform them of recent events.”

“Of course,” Firon said, giving the king close scrutiny. It seemed he wasn’t quite sure Hiero had told him everything. He didn’t dare say anything about his suspicions or it could derail the cooperation going on with the factions here on Fillia.

The king was led to another office where several people were working on some computer issues. Upon Firon’s command they all hurried out so Hiero could use the interstellar com in private. Just how private it would turn out to be he couldn’t be sure. After some thought he figured that they likely hadn’t had time to set up that kind of tracer since the fighting ended. The republicans had been running things from there until the fighting ended. 

As soon as he made contact with Cantera the first face he saw was Tical.

“Your Grace, thank the stars you’re okay.” The tone of the counselor’s voice made it clear something was wrong. He couldn’t have known about the activities on Fillia yet.

“What’s been happening on Cantera in my absence?”

The counselor looked uncomfortable, like he didn’t want to say what he had to say. Judging by the man’s hesitation he was pretty sure he knew the direction things were going.

“Sire, as you know we’ve been tracking the movements of Thelia Oris for the past couple weeks. We’d discovered that she’d been coaxed into certain activities against her will. Finally, we felt the need to pick her up yesterday to prevent something from happening. After some prompting, we got her to tell us who’s behind the plot and what its ultimate objective was.”

The king waited for him to continue. After more silence Hiero said, “Just spit it out. Who is it?”

“Paulo Tilliar,” was the answer.

Sadly, at this point he’d been expecting something like that. Now what to do about it. He was stuck here on Fillia while things were being hatched on his home planet. To top it all off his wife was missing and being here on Fillia hadn’t kept him from being attacked. 

“Do you know the whereabouts of Paulo?” the king asked. “Last I heard he was in the Cello area of Cantera.”

“He disappeared soon after we snatched up Thelia,” Tical responded. 

His thoughts raced through possibilities of what they need to do. He couldn’t let the others here know about the situation on Cantera. Another troublemaker coming out of Cantera was the last thing they needed during this time of turmoil.

Making up his mind, he told Tical about the events just happening in the imperial palace. The details of the attacks on him and the other dignitaries, as well as the disappearance of the queen. 

“So, you have no clue where the queen might be?” the counselor asked, concern clearly on his face. If the way things looked were the truth, then she’d been playing them from the point she showed up on her ship to warn him of Tonya’s betrayal. One betrayal followed by another. The back of his mind kept telling him that he didn’t know the whole story. The queen certainly couldn’t be involved. The king shook his head.

“Not for certain, but I have an idea of someone I can ask.”  
____________________________________

It took longer than he wanted, but after two hours he was finally discovered at a restaurant a mile or so from the palace. He felt a little uneasy about stray too far from this place that was at least familiar to him, but he needed to talk to Tempus. At least he hadn’t left the planet. Not yet.

“I’m sorry, Hiero, but I have no idea where your wife is,” the Foundation representative said. “After dropping her off near the palace a week ago I haven’t seen her, except for the few instances she’s shown up in the local news.”

“You secretly whisked her away from Cantera to bring her here,” the king replied. “And now I’m supposed to believe that you’ve not kept track of her actions? I know you made some kind of agreement with her recently. It would be sloppy of you not to stay aware of what’s happening.”

Tempus sat silently for a minute without acknowledging anything. The king hailed the bar tender for a drink, making sure that the other understood that he wasn’t going anywhere until he got some answers. 

“Look, your Grace,” the Foundation man said, “I’ve spent almost the entirety of the past week in meetings and arrangements with my counterpart on Fillia. She’s been bombarded with a lot of information that we’ve been piecing together.”

When that didn’t satisfy the king, he continued, “The kinds of arrangements Moira and I dealt with were mundane, if rather far reaching in character. Nothing she talked about indicated anything that would harm you or the kingdom in any way. I can’t imagine her intentionally harming you.”

“And Paulo?”

Shaking his head, he answered, “I’ve never been able to read that man. He clearly has a lot of ambitions. That was one reason he’d agreed to the marriage between you and his daughter.”

But then Moira had run away to hide for two years, until a perceived threat from Tonya brought her out and ready to work their marriage angles again. Had it all just been a ploy to eliminate a common threat that could also hinder Tilliar ambitions?

Confusion everywhere. What was happening? There were too many possibilities. The one thing they all had in common was Paulo Tilliar. Somehow, he had to get back to Cantera as quickly as he could, despite the risk. First, he’d have to find a diplomatic way to disengage himself from the plans on Fillia. If the war was to continue, Commander Urkish would have to take the helm.

Reading the expression on the king’s face, Tempus said, “I don’t think---”

“She vanished at the exact time I and other dignitaries were attacked in the palace. Regardless of what you think on a personal level, that can’t be a coincidence.”

The Foundation representative turned his head to stare in the direction of the bartender, though he was clearly wasn’t paying attention to him. The man had to be weighing several things that bordered on the interest of his government, as well as what it could all mean to the future of Cantera. Hiero couldn’t blame him all that much, especially since it could result in disrupting any agreements made between the Tilliar trade organization and Terminus.

“As I said, I haven’t seen her since dropping her off at the palace before the fighting here stopped. However, there are many contacts of her family here on Fillia, some of whom may be willing to talk in change for credits. Just try not to be too threatening to them or they may find a way to make things unpleasant.”

Those words came out not as a threat, but simply a statement of fact.

“Anyone in particular that you think I should go to first?”

Tempus pulled a pad out from somewhere the king hadn’t notice and began sifting through several prompts before laying it down in front of the king. Three names and addresses were listed. The king’s finger came down on one in particular.

“How does one contact him?”  
_______________________________

When she woke up, she had a splitting headache. Glancing around she was confused. This was not the room in the palace she and Hiero had been residing in. Shaking her head, she fought to mentally get control of her thoughts to recall what had happened. She vaguely remembered some shadow appearing somewhere and then a sharp pain in her shoulder.

Moira tried to sit up, but her body was too weak, That didn’t keep her from throwing up whatever food was still in her stomach. It took another two minutes before getting a grip on things so she could breathe again. The feeling of movement in her belly caused her some concern. She didn’t think the baby inside her had been harmed by whatever the drug was that got injected, but the concern couldn’t help but be there. 

Slowly her head started to clear. She notice that she was laying on a bed in a room of a larger star ship. That caused her some alarm. Someone had kidnapped her and was likely going to use her to try to get at the king. She’d been involved in so many intrigues that she felt really foolish allowing something like this to happen to her. 

Her alarm then subsided as she glanced around the room. It was one she knew well, or at least the format was one she knew well. There were three ships in her father’s merchant fleet with this design, with this room in one of the more secure areas should the ship be attacked. It was the most luxurious room reserved for members of her family. 

Any doubts of this were set aside when the door opened and her father came into the room.

Smiling, she stood up and hugged him when he came over to her.

“If you wanted to see me, you could’ve easily made arrangements at the palace,” Moira said.

“Things are getting a little complicated, my dear,” Paulo responded. “I was concerned with your safety after everything going on there. I had to make some arrangements to get you out while I could. We don’t have much time.”

“Time for what?” she asked. Something in the back of her mind stirred with a memory. 

“Why, operation Thanos, of course. Things are set up perfectly for its inception.”

Thanos? That had been a ludicrous idea that members of her family had concocted years before when she was a child. When it started being discussed again two years before she’d said if the opportunity arose, she’d be willing to discuss it, but wouldn’t likely support it. When she’d disappeared after her first marriage to the king was annulled, it never came up again. Now here he was talking about it again. 

“You know how I feel about this.”

“Well, you can think it over as we head for Cantera. Most things are set in place. There was a slight setback when the Thelia Oris outsmarted us a bit and shut down one of our conduits. There are more we can use, of course.”

Thelia? What had he done to Thelia? 

“Before we go any further here, I want to know what your plan is. I support our family causes when I feel they’re productive. I have to know what exactly you have planned with this.”

What did she think of this plan should it unfold and success? Conflicting emotions warred within her. She did care for Hiero, but she and her family had striven hard to get to where they were. Then there was the other Plan to consider. Well, this was one of the potential results when one decides to go back into politics when trying to find a way out of a bad situation. 

Over the next twenty minutes Paulo explained to his daughter what he had in store for Cantera, Fillia, and the Tilliar family.  
__________________________________

The person Tempus had directed him to, a minor merchant involved in many other areas of shady business, indicated what had most likely happened to the queen. He was aware of several Tilliar trading vessels that had been in orbit around the planet conducting usual business, but eight of which took off for other systems at the same time the attacks in the palace happened. There was only one place they’d be going now. 

The excuse he had to leave Firon for his reason for leaving had been weak, but he didn’t stop the king from leaving. The tyrant knew that something was happening on Cantera that needed the king’s immediate attention. When the king promised to leave most of his fleet there under Commander Urkish to follow through with any military actions still needed, all objections ended.

The Tilliar vessels had a day’s head start. He wasn’t sure if that would make a difference. It all depended on what these people were doing before Moira was picked up. 

The time it took the ships to reach the jump point was the longest hour he could remember. It was one thing to have anonymous people wanting him dead or deposed, or having someone forced into betraying him, but having Moira involved in this was heart wrenching. He’d allowed her into every system the king could give. He paced the floor of the main deck until finally the jump occurred. 

Immediately upon entering the system he contacted orbital command to scan the area. The space traffic around Cantera was busy, as usual. Trade was constantly going in and out of the system. General Shore promised to have every ship in the system assessed and catalogued within a few minutes. The king then contacted the planet.

“Grij, I want you to seize every Tilliar vessel in orbit around Cantera and Duran. If they try to resist you are authorized to fire on them. General Shore will give you the information you need shortly.”

Of course, the ships with him would be the majority of those who’d hunt down the Tilliar ships. The trick now would be finding where both Paulo and Moira were. The other members of that family adhere to them. There wouldn’t likely be any more trouble with them in custody.

“Yes, your Grace.” Grij looked off screen for a few moments before coming back. “We know that several Tilliar vessels had entered the system yesterday, but we’re not sure where they might be now. I think they might be changing the codes for the ships to others we’re not familiar with. Since we aren’t looking directly on the ships’ hulls, we can’t be sure of everything.”

The king sat there thinking for a moment before getting a signal from one of his nearby ships. It was under attack. Checking his computer, he confirmed that several ships had appeared in formation from the far side of the planet. The connection with the planet was cut off.  
___________________________________

Tical slammed his fist on the console. “What the hell happened?”

“Someone in the palace has cut the connection,” said the technicians nearby. Grij was yelling at someone down the hall, but Tical remained focused on the screen.  
“Where is this disruption coming from?”

“Somewhere in the royal apartments,” was the reply. 

Everyone in the room froze and stared at each other. Grij had stopped talking to those in the hall. The look on his face wasn’t good.

“How many people can we round up to secure this area before moving toward the apartments?” Tical asked.

Grij thought for a moment. “We can get fifty people here in three minutes. More can be gathered from the further sections. I’ll get working on it. Do your best to break through that dampening field.”  
___________________________________

“Take out that ship!” the king demanded, pointing at one near the rear of the attacking formation. “I bet that’s their commander’s ship.”

The shipmen moved to obey. There were only twelve of them. Fewer than he would’ve expected. They were obviously not meant to get rid of him, but just to slow him down and keep him off the planet as long as possible. That could only mean something bad was either happening or about to happen on Cantera. 

This attack of his twenty ships against these twelve would’ve taken at least an hour, if not two, under normal circumstances. The quality of the Cantera ships were superior with stronger fire power, but the Tilliar vessels were of a better quality than most trading vessels. They had strong shielding and weapons, even if the weapons weren’t as numerous.

But these weren’t normal circumstances. As the king’s ships moved in to engage, eight more Canteran ships swooped around to strike from the rear. These were among those which were left by the king to defend the planet when he left to join the fighting in the Fillia system. 

The fighting was intense, but was over in thirty minutes. The ship the king had singled out had been taken down within ten minutes, causing other to wander aimlessly before surrendering. In all eight of the ships were destroyed and four captured. All of them Tilliar trade vessels. Shore had identified twenty other lesser trade vessels of the Tilliars were identified and seized by the king’s people. 

Capturing these vessels was a good start, but what now? Could he fight a trade family so deeply entrenched into the fabric of Cantera itself, not to mention the Fillian Empire as a whole? That would undo everything he’d striven so hard to accomplish since the end of the failed revolt thirty years before. The only way to deal with it was to chop off the head and try to work with what remained.

“Captain, I need to get to the planet, now.”

The captain glanced at the king and saw that this wasn’t an idle request. The man glanced around the controls and scanned through the planet’s charts. Finally, he decided on one spot and then took the rather dangerous turn and descent, through a lot of orbital debris that smashed into the hull. The king didn’t care. So long as they were in one piece when reaching the planet that was all that mattered.   
___________________________________

Grij stood outside a door that led to one of the palace sections that generally were reserved for members of the royal family. Only members of that family, and those chosen to guard that place, were allowed through. That had been put to the test months earlier when assassins had broken in and attempted to kill the couple.

Now the queen who’d been in grave danger along with the king looked to be on the wrong side of an internal dispute. There were two ways into this larger area. Once through there and closer to the inner rooms there was only one way in that led to the five bedrooms that members of the royal family had resided for the past two hundred years. There were at least twenty-five people in this section who likely weren’t friendly to the king’s cause. He had sixty soldiers here to take care of this problem, but these were some of the most easily defensible sections of the palace. He feared that a huge chunk of this building may have to be destroyed to get at them, but that was unthinkable. Moira was pregnant with the heir to the throne.

So, what was the answer? Moira would have to be kept in a safer place, probably in one of those five rooms. At least the first section could be assaulted. Once he had the heat detectors he needed, he would be able to determine what their locations were. It looked as though they could starve them out in necessary, but something on the back of his mind made him think they had limited time. Somewhere else on the planet the Tilliar had more resources and they likely could communicate. If this group could get in undetected, others probably could too.

“Grij,” Tical’s voice said over the communicator. “We’ve got the heat detectors and all our soldiers are in place. What’s the action?”

Glancing at those standing around him, he made sure that everyone was where they needed to be. Then he responded, “Send the heat image to my pad.”

When the image came through, he confirmed that there were actually twenty-eight people in the royal section. Twenty of them were in the outer part, and the other eight in one of the royal bed chambers. They looked to be set up in perfect defense formation. They had to do it, but he hesitated. Those corridors were so narrow.

The first group came in low, beneath the first blaster shots. The soldiers fired, taking down two of them. A similar attack came through the other door with the same result. After a few more blaster shots coming from the other Tallier soldiers slowly pulled back to the door leading to the inner rooms. 

Another sound came behind him. Spinning around he saw the king with dozens of other soldiers joining them inside. Soon after the Tilliar soldiers passed through the door. There were at least twenty-two of them left on that side of the door. 

While Grij quickly explained to the king what was going on the sound of a blaster shot could be heard coming from the other side of the door. A glance around the different corridors confirmed that no one on there side had been hit, and the door itself never opened. Swiftly the group formed up outside the door.

There was some shuffling around and muffled voices. Then silence again. Grij didn’t know what to do now, and judging by the expression on his face the king was a little baffled as well. The shot had come from just on the other side of this door, not in the bedroom they’d detected the heat signatures from. The king slowly reached his hand to the door as the soldiers in the forefront raised their weapons. 

Before he could touch the knob, it turned from the other side and the door came open. The person on the other side of the door was the queen’s maid Allai. 

“Come in, your Grace,” she said. “Nobody here is armed.”  
_____________________________________

The king and his soldiers hurried in and looked around the room. She was right. Everyone standing there was unarmed, with blasters on the floor. That is, they were all unarmed except for one person. As the soldiers were led out of the room, Hiero came over to the two on the floor. Laying on his back on the floor was Paulo Tilliar, dead; and not far behind his feet knelt Queen Moira, holding a blaster loosely in her hand.

“Your Grace, the Tilliers will no longer be a problem,” Moira said as she glanced up at him for a second before looking back at her father. The trace of a tear was visible on one of her cheeks.

“Moira, give me the blaster.”

She didn’t move, but continued staring at her father. He bent down and pulled the weapon from her hand. There was no resistance. Her eyes remained on Paulo.

“Moira,” he began again, “You’re going to be taken to one of the other rooms.” Under guard, but he didn’t say that out loud. “I want you to remain there until after we sort through all this.”

The only response was a simple nod. As gently as he could he helped Moira to her feet and slowly moved her out of the room. She had gotten quite heavy by this time. He’d need to have one of the doctors look at her to make sure that both she and the baby she was carrying were okay. It seemed rather cold to feel more interested in her baby than her just now, but that was politics.

After putting her in the room he chose he arranged to have it locked from the outside. Ten guards were left here to watch over her. At least there was no other way out of this room. There’s be no whisking her away somehow. Now to figure out what happened. Had she really killed her father? The notion was so strange that it just hung there, almost detached from reality, but the evidence showed that was the case.

The king left the section of royal apartments with Tical and Grij in tow as the investigation got under way. It shouldn’t take too long for them to figure out what happened. The big thing to consider was what to do next. 

Turning to Grij he said, “Make sure that there’s no trouble happening with any Tilliar vessels remaining in the system and see if there has been any other activity in other systems. Moira is going to have to make a statement to the rest of her people to calm down the situation. Just now I’m not sure how to arrange it.”

Turning to Tical he added, “Check in on Oris to see how he’s doing. Now that it looks like things could be calming down on our end of the empire, I want to take stock of everything. Make sure there’s nothing we’ve missed.”

No more surprises. They didn’t need any more of those. He fought to keep his hands from shaking as he headed back to one of his more secluded offices. He didn’t want to be disturbed. What had just happened and what did it all mean? What would happen with Moira? She’d killed her father to end the trouble. He should be grateful, but one didn’t just brush aside everything they’d experienced in the blink of an eye. Moira would be in that room for a while. 

Taking a deep breath, he entered his credentials into the system and began the work of cleaning up the messes across Cantera and the rest of their points of influence. He’d need to tell Firon what at least some of his plans were.

To think, a year before they’d all been thinking of how they could break free from the grip of Fillia, and now he was working on behalf of them in order to keep the peace and protect it from outside enemies.  
______________________________________

Moira sat behind a desk in the room that she’d been confined in for the past couple months. The king had made sure that she’d had limited contact with the outside world, implying that she needed to be under strong guard until the baby was born. That should be happening in a month or so. At the moment she couldn’t see herself getting around very easily even if she wanted to. The pregnancy was sapping a lot of her strength. 

But that would be over soon. Then what would happen? She had some ideas. It was only a couple weeks before that Hiero had allowed her limited access to the computer systems on Cantera. That was good, especially since she knew how to override a few things if she needed to. Best not to let the king catch her doing that, but there was a call that she needed to make. It was long overdue. 

“Moira,” said the man on the screen. “I was beginning to wonder if the king had put you out of commission permanently.”

“He certainly had me in a black box as far as the rest of the universe was concerned,” she replied with a slight smile. The smile was somewhat forced with everything that’s been happening on her mind, “but I didn’t get to where I am by not knowing how to handle people; especially men.”

“Using your abilities a bit more than you should, it seems,” said the man with some distasted. “I hope you haven’t forgotten your training already.”

Giving the man a curious look, she responded, “Speaker Stor Gendibal, I thought you knew me better than that. I’ve kept within the confines of the Seldon Plan. As I said, my abilities to persuade don’t require the use of direct manipulation. My father taught me well before I was shipped off to Trantor for my initiations.”

The man’s expression at first was one not convinced, but he let it slide.

“Speaking of your father. Did you really kill him?”

It was hard to push aside the feeling of loss that threatened to return to the surface. She couldn’t allow that to take over. She had a job to do; several jobs, to be honest. Her reason for disappearing had partly been to keep away from the problems she knew would arise with all the parties that mulled around the politics here.

“No, that was my maid Allai who did it. Her loyalty to the kingdom was absolute, it seems. When she knew the king’s soldiers were coming she decided to cut down on the fighting by eliminating the catalyst. I didn’t wish her to get in trouble or fall under any kind of suspicion, so I took the blaster from her. But to be frank, if she hadn’t done it, I might have been forced to do something of the sort anyway.

“With that taken care of and the war winding down, we can prepare for any other problems. According to the calculations, there shouldn’t be anymore wars in this area for another fifty years.”

“What happened then with Cantera, Fillia, and Yllul that I haven’t heard about yet? You’re sure trouble with Yllul and internal fighting within the empire won’t destabilize things there?”

The queen tapped her finger on her pad and called up the notes she’d prepared. 

“With the help of my First Foundation friend Tempus I’ve been able to gather together everything I need to determine the variables. Calculations had shown from thirty years ago that there was an 80% chance of there being another revolt from Cantera with better odds of success. The odds of its success were determined to be somewhat greater, but still very uncertain until ten years ago. There were several possible outcomes to what would happen with the rise in power of Yllul and internal problems with Cantera itself.”

“You’d said before that there was still a greater likelihood of Cantera failing, even if the tyrant Ysh himself were deposed.”

“True, but what resulted was still in the 30% range. We are supposed to guide the people toward the goals of the Second Galactic Empire. This three-way coalition coming out of the chaos was one of those possibilities. The war between Fillia and Yllul should end within another year or so, with Yllul losing most of its territory. The result would then require almost all the coalition’s attention to integrate the powers together. Yllul itself should be a thing of the past within about fifty years from then.”

“Provided things continue the way you are calculating and aren’t diverted by those unforeseen forces.”

Moira shrugged. “The long-term calculations have remained consistent, and they’ve all indicated the either Yllul or Fillia would be the power that would take control of this sector before the Foundation itself makes its appearance here. It will then find itself a part of the Foundation in one of several non-violent means.

“As for the near future of Fillia itself, things will be steered in the direction of the rulers of Cantera dominating the council. With their fleet the strongest all it will take is the bowing out of one of the other two figures. From what I’ve seen, General Firon isn’t all that interested in maintaining power. Hiero will easily dominate the republican faction by giving them some concessions here and there. Only General Vino might cause problems with that, but she’ll likely be too busy to pay a lot of attention to it. General Shore will help me there once the war has ended.”

“And Gondor?”

That brought a sad feeling inside, but Zurx knew there would be a danger to the mission she sent him on. Hiero had known nothing about it, but he’d find out soon enough. By that time she’d have to come up with a good explanation. She didn’t say that to the speaker, but just continued to stare at him. 

Sighing, he sat back in his chair. “Fine. Sometimes we have to be more direct with our actions than other times. It sounds like this time you plan to remain with Hiero for a while.”

“This had been my only real assignment in dealing with things in this sector. I’m rather comfortable here and the company is nice. Besides, the king will likely want more heirs than this one I’m carrying now.” Amusement then came to her. “Besides, I seem to recall you having a relationship with a Hamish woman there on Trantor, and it’s still going on as far as I know.”

That left him silent. She fought hard to keep from laughing. Finally, they began talking about other plans they’d be making in the future before ending the call.

There was no mention of what she’d wanted in locker 12 on Fillia. That was a personal family matter that she’d discuss with Firon at another time.

Returning to her bed she laid back down. She then considered how long it would be before she could coax the king into loosening his constraints on her. It would be best not to use her mental abilities, of course. She kind of liked Hiero the way he was. Making even small changes could really alter that person’s personality.  
_____________________________________________

When they made another jump Prince Lorn thought it was just another spot where they would wait before doing another one. He spent almost all his free time with the books he was given to read. He hadn’t known that so many of these old books were still in existence somewhere. Unless stolen from the Galactic Library, where had these people gotten them from? He’d read through the first two in three days, then was presented with some more. Now he had a lot of materials to work with if he was ever given a chance to sit down and write.

Looking up at one point he was startled to see his pilot glancing at him in his room. There was a smile on the man’s face. How long had he been standing there?

“What is it, captain?”

“Sorry I didn’t speak up sooner, Prince Lorn, but you were so engrossed with what you were reading and I didn’t want to disrupt your thoughts.”

That wasn’t likely, but there was no point arguing it.

“What do you want? Are you going to tell me to prepare for another jump? I’ve already lost track of all the gut wrenching maneuvers that seem to be taking me from one end of the sector to another.”

“Fear not, prince. We’ve arrived at our destination.”

Lorn jumped up and ran over to one of the few places on the ship one can get a glimpse of the stars. They’d entered a system that looked largely like any other, until a couple things stood out. A couple planets in particular stood out as they went by.

“Where are we?” the prince demanded, his eyes still glued to the monitor. Typing a few things into the pad beneath the screen showed him what some of the planets that circled this star. 

“You’ve probably guessed we’re not in the same sector of the galaxy as your home planet. We’re in the Sirius Sector; and that over luminescent planet you see in the distance is Earth.”

Lorn jaw dropped. That was impossible. Earth was a myth. Many people had gone out of their way going from one end of the galaxy to the other in search of it and had never found it. But then, many myths did have a cornel of truth to them.

As though reading his thoughts the stranger continued, “Yes, that indeed is Earth. As you can see its largely dead and mostly radioactive. The product of some people there several millennia ago. We won’t be going to the planet, of course. Where we’re going to is to the planet’s satellite over there, that the ancients referred to as the Moon, or Luna.”

“Why would you want to go there? That world clearly can’t sustain life. Are you abandoning me on that lifeless world?” That wasn’t a pleasant thought.

“We’re here to meet someone. True, nothing exists on the surface, but beneath it is a different story. I have someone on the main communicator that wishes to speak with you.”

A mixture of dread and curiosity came upon him. This had to be the one who’d set everything in motion that brought him to this place at this time. Curiosity won out in the end. He followed the pilot to the main screen.

“Hello Lorn Theor, I’m pleased to see you’ve made it here safely. I feared that something might happen to you on Cantera, and since I had someone in place capable of helping you out, I figured you wouldn’t mind being removed. Let me introduce myself. My name is Daneel Olivaw, and I have a job I’d like to offer you.” 

Here ends the last part of Cantera: A Foundation Story


End file.
